Backpack Revelation
by TX549
Summary: Jack always took care of her. It just took a while to notice. First attempt. No beta. Hope you like. Reviews welcome.


Sam rummaged around in her backpack. She sighed. _Dammit_.

She looked over to see the man watching her with a smirk. She raised her eyebrows, daring him to comment. He knew better than to take that dare. He enjoyed living. Instead the smirk became a grin.

"Bottom left pocket." Was all he said.

She looked down and sighed again, then got up and walked to his backpack. Sure enough, in the bottom left pocket of his pack, she found what she needed. She pulled out one of the two watertight bags and opened it. Inside was one of her T-shirts, one pair of her underwear, a sports bra, and one pair of socks. She resealed his backpack and then took the items into the tent to change. She changed into fresh clothes and came back out and joined him on the log. He didn't say a word, just handed her a cup of coffee. She smiled. "Thanks."

He nudged her shoulder. "Always."

She grinned and leaned against him. He moved his arm around her so she could lean up against him fully. She thought about how things had changed over the years. The backpack was just an example. For all her brilliance, it had actually taken a while for her to notice. Her mind wandered.

When they had started this journey she now fully admitted she had a big chip on her shoulder to prove herself. She wanted everyone to know she could handle anything they could. Even to the point of cheeky attitude the first day on meeting her CO. And oh, he was so full of himself with that smug smirk too. She also learned his confidence in combat and tactics was overshadowed by the loss of his son and she grew to understand his extreme protectiveness of his team and fear of losing any of them, but most of all her. And everyone who worked in their command knew how he felt about leaving people behind. He had been left behind. He was captured and tortured because of it. He would still move the world to get his people back to prevent that from happening to them if he could.

The backpack issue had probably come up late during their first year together. She had apparently forgotten to pack socks. Too embarrassed to mention it, she had fallen in a river, and had no dry socks. She had sat on the ground, looking at the contents of her pack. She was so ashamed. And she was so upset that she was going to disappoint him. Then she had noticed he was standing there, looking down at her.

"Carter? You okay?" He had asked gently in a low voice so that Daniel and Teal'c would not overhear.

She looked up and him and knew that disappointing him was the last thing she wanted to do. Instead, when she looked up, he was simply pointing. She looked to where she had laid items out in her search. On top was a pair of her socks. _How had she missed those_?

"Yes sir, just going to change into dry socks."

He simply nodded, grinned at her and walked away. For a long time she never understood how she had missed the socks. There were minor other times as well. Sometimes missions went longer than planned, but she somehow managed to have one or two more sets of clean T-shirts, bras, socks, and underwear than she remembered packing. There also always seemed to be plenty of her favorite snacks as well. She finally discovered the secret about a year later. By then, their feelings for each other were just below the surface, waiting to boil over. They risked a lingering touch when their hands were close, a few hugs, and the occasional low key flirting.

This time Daniel had slipped into a mud pit, and in trying to help him out, he pulled her in. Her CO had not even tried to conceal his amusement at her situation. Actually openly laughing at her as he calmly pulled out a camera and snapped a picture before putting the camera away and helping her out of the mud. She was less than amused at his finding humor in the situation and her appearance. And she got to look forward to a five mile hike in muddy wet clothes because only her CO had brought his pack with him from their base camp. Daniel had enough common sense to move away from her, but her CO apparently had no sixth sense for the impending doom he was about to bring upon himself.

Teal'c led Daniel away to a river to try and clean up. She turned to follow when her commander and subject of her current fantasies of painful torture placed a hand on her arm to stop her as he merely smiled and took off his backpack. He opened it and removed his spare uniform and handed it to her, then opened a pocket on the front and took out a waterproof bag that contained a t-shirt and socks.

"You can tuck the excess length in your boots. Roll the cuffs on the blouse" he had said simply.

He slowly picked up his pack and put it back on and led her to the river, upstream from where Daniel was cleaning. He took her weapon from her from her, then her boots and muddy blouse, and went a slight distance away and turned his back to her and sat down. Far enough for privacy, but more than close enough to get to her if danger showed up.

It was when she opened the bag that she realized the clothes inside were in fact not his, but her own. One t-shirt, one pair of underwear, one sports bra, and one pair of socks. It finally dawned on her. The times she had had extra clothes, the mysterious socks that appeared. He had been carrying those for her just in case. After she dressed, and put her boots on, she walked over to him with her muddy clothes. She noticed he already had a waterproof bag out. She placed them in and sealed it. As she stood back up, he handed her a now clean weapon. He smiled, picked up the bag, put it in his pack and began to put the pack back on. "Sir…thank you" she said.

"It's my job to take care of you" he replied in his nonchalant way.

"Jack, I mean it. Thank you for always taking care of me."

"Always" Had been the reply.

He had not even called her out for using his given name. In fact, she had not found out until fairly recently that he preferred her to address him like that when it was just them.

They had walked back to find Daniel clean, but wet, complaining about having to walk back in wet clothes. "Should have thought about that when you decided not watch where you were walking Daniel."

"How come Sam has a dry uniform?" He whined

"I like her better Daniel." Came the automatic reply with a grin only she could see walking next to him. They both laughed when they heard him reply "We all know that."

There had been a few other times since that discovery. It got to where they were comfortable enough with each other for him to just let her dig in his back pack and get whatever she needed. She wasn't quite sure when that actually started, but it had. He would watch her frustration build while she looked for something, then using Jedi-mind power or some crap she had yet to figure out, would wait until just before frustration turned to anger, then direct her to the pocket or pouch on his pack that held the correct item. She had since found out that he even had a special padded pocket made to carry extra glasses for Daniel. She never did think to ask how he kept the prescription up. They just appeared a couple of times when Daniel's were taken or broken.

The house had gotten that way as well. She smirked at the thought of tough, battle hardened, cynical Jack buying bubble bath, women's shampoo, and other various items that had showed up at his house for the few times she had stayed over after a long team night or too much to drink. Again, nothing said, it just appeared. If Teal'c or Daniel had thought it odd that stuff had been at Jack's house they had never said anything. They just accepted it.

That brought her back to the present. Sitting on the log with her CO. Well, CO for this particular mission, which he had arranged just so he and the original SG1 could have one last team trip through the gate. Next weekend he would be her husband, she his wife, and their lives would take a path together. She wrapped her arm around his waist and looked up. He felt her move and looked down at her, eyebrows raised. She set down her coffee and used her now free hand to pull his head toward her into a deep kiss.

When they finally pulled apart, he smiled. "I love you Sam."

"I love you to Jack. And I cannot wait to be your wife." She relished the feel of him tightening his hold on her.

About that time Teal'c and Daniel came back, Teal'c walking slow and obviously helping guide the wayward archeologist. "Jack, I kind of broke my glasses, you wouldn't happen to…"

"Top right pocket, the padded one" Sam replied. She then looked at her husband to be and they both laughed.


End file.
